


Reversed Ends

by BlueHairedGrace1010



Series: Commander Fox Week, 2020 [5]
Category: Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Body Swap, CC-1010 | Fox Needs A Hug, Codywan (implied), Commander Fox Week, Crack Treated Seriously, Cross-Posted on FanFiction.Net, Cross-Posted on Wattpad, Day 6, Fix-It, Fluff and Angst, I Will Go Down With This Ship, I know the ending is kinda ambiguous but it IS a fix-it i promise, M/M, Magic, Mind Control, Quinlan Vos Needs A Hug, Romance, That's Not How The Force Works (Star Wars), but it's not really the main focus
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-03
Updated: 2021-03-03
Packaged: 2021-03-15 19:34:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,848
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29813340
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BlueHairedGrace1010/pseuds/BlueHairedGrace1010
Summary: One morning, Commander Fox and Quinlan Vos awake to find themselves in an unprecedented situation. Along the way to making the situation work to their advantage, they might just end up saving the galaxy.
Relationships: CC-1010 | Fox/Quinlan Vos, CC-2224 | Cody/Obi-Wan Kenobi (implied)
Series: Commander Fox Week, 2020 [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1820248
Comments: 18
Kudos: 99





	Reversed Ends

**Author's Note:**

> Day 6: Magic | Phantom Touch 
> 
> Me, posting for Commander Fox Week 2020 (that was back in July 2020) in the beginning of the third month of 2021? More likely than you think.
> 
> I am SO sorry for how long this took! I've been struggling lately, and I initially didn't plan on this being so long. Words just kept appearing on the document and, well, here we are.
> 
> I dedicate this to the Vox Discord Server, where this concept was discussed and many ideas were traded. You guys rock! I may not participate in many discussion anymore, but I love reading what you guys come up with! <3
> 
> Looking back on it, there are some things I kind of glossed over in this story that could be expanded upon (Quinlan's first week with the Guard, Fox on his mission, the two of them DECIMATING Palpatine), that I couldn't add due to length. If you guys would like it, I could write separate one-shots about these ideas in the future. :)
> 
> I hope you enjoy! <3

Fox felt his eye twitch—but was it really _his_ eye anymore?—as he coldly stared at the face sitting across from him. _Fox's_ eyes, _Fox's_ lips, _Fox's_ nose, _Fox's face_. For probably the first time in his life, Fox wished he was in front of a mirror, but life had never really been kind to him.

"What. Did. You. Do," Fox asked, with _Quinlan's_ voice from _Quinlan's_ lips. The voice was as tight as harshly pulled rope, attempting an appearance of control.

"What makes you think _I_ did this?" Quinlan inquired incredulously, using _Fox's_ voice. Fox felt like his—Quinlan's?—head was about to explode at the situation.

Fox scoffed, missing the affect it had with _his actual_ voice. Quinlan's scoffing just wasn't the same and he silently mourned the loss. " _You_ have the Force, Vos. You're the only one here who can do it."

"Well, I don't have it anymore," Quinlan sarcastically quipped back. "Besides, the Force doesn't work that way, Fox. You know that because we've _talked_ about it."

"Weren't you the one who said, "The Force works in mysterious way, Fox. We don't know everything about it, Fox," a while back?" Fox snarked.

Quinlan glared at him and Fox felt a brief note of satisfaction at just how scary a glare on his face was. No wonder he could intimidate almost anyone. "Don't throw that back in my face, Fox."

He ran his hands through Quinlan's hair, holding back a smile at the feel. He loved Quinlan's hair, even if he'd never say it outside of one of their _moments_. Quinlan didn't need a bigger ego. "Okay, so what happened? How do we fix this?"

Fox _loathed_ the casual shrug Quinlan responded with; it did not fit with _his_ body. "I have no idea. I've never heard anything about this kind of thing happening before."

"Maybe there's something in the Jedi Archives?" Fox wondered. "The answer to… _whatever this is_ would have to be there, right?"

Quinlan shrugged _again_ and Fox tightened the fingers he was currently in control of. "It's a good place to start. It's not like we have so many options when we're like this."

Quinlan went to stand, but Fox stopped him. "I have no reason to be at the Jedi Temple; it'll look suspicious if my body is there, especially with you since most don't know about us. I'll go alone, since you can be there."

For a moment, Fox was sure that Quinlan would argue, but was surprised when he sighed and leaned back. "You're right, that makes sense. Just… please be careful… We don't want anyone to figure us out, after all!"

Fox hid his smile at Quinlan's concern behind an eye roll. They weren't in a position to develop strong feelings or have an actual relationship. Fox ignored the tiny voice that claimed the strong feelings part had already happened because _no Thorn, Fox did not have feelings for the most annoying person he had ever met, thank you very much._ "Your concern touches my heart, Vos, really; however, it isn't needed."

Quinlan smiled charmingly at him, the look so wrong on Fox's face. "But Foxy, I promised Thorn that I would take care of you."

Fox sighed in exasperated fondness at his younger brother. Fox loved him, really he did, but Thorn never minded his own business. "Yeah, well Thorn doesn't know what he's talking about. I don't need protection."

He stood up from his chair and, in his annoyance, forgot about the body swap situation, going to put on his armour. As soon as he touched it, Fox froze as a blinding, white light flashed around him. His senses immediately overwhelmed, Fox collapsed, his hand still on the armour. He couldn't see, hear, and the feeling of his hand on the armour had dulled. After what felt like years, the light finally vanished, only to be replaced by the most intense fear he could experience. It truly felt like _his own_ fear. He could quietly hear a sinister voice commanding him, ordering something that Fox couldn't put his finger on. He briefly caught sight of a figure standing in front of him, yellow eyes, and Fox was reminded of—

Fox breathed deeply as the fear, images, and sounds left as quickly as they had come. Blearily, he opened his eyes, just now realizing he had closed them. In front of him, Fox could see the foggy image of Quinlan crouched down to be at eye level with him.

"Are you back with me, Fox?" Quinlan asked. His voice was soft and filled with concern, yet very serious.

"Maybe?" Fox questioned, murmuring and not completely sure what was going on. "I kind of hurt all over."

Quinlan nodded, sighing. "That's to be expected. I'm so sorry for this. I didn't even think to remind you to be careful of what you touch."

Fox shook his head, though immediately regretted it. His head was still killing him. "It's my fault for not remembering."

The Kiffar-turned-clone trooper held out his hand, holding a pair of gloves towards him. "These should help. It won't completely get rid of the effect, but it will dull it until I can teach you some techniques to help with the Force."

"Alright," Fox agreed, not wanting to go through that again. He stood up, ignoring the dizziness and Quinlan quickly standing up to steady him. "I'd better get to the Temple. The quicker I find answers, the more likely it is that I'll never have to experience _that_ again." He pulled on the gloves, wincing briefly as a small light flashed in his mind, but it, apparently, wasn't enough to get anything.

"We're going together," Quinlan insisted. "I don't want a repeat of that. I'll handle the research."

Fox began to feel annoyed. They weren't getting anywhere. "That's great and all, Quinlan, but the commander of the Coruscant Guard _still_ has no reason to be at the Jedi Temple."

"We'll think of something to say if someone asks on the drive," Quinlan responded, eyes hard and unrelenting. Fox knew he wouldn't win this one.

He rolled his eyes. "Whatever, Vos. Get into my persona. My men don't need to know about what's going on. We've been around each other long enough that we _should_ be able to impersonate the other."

They quickly got changed. Quinlan pulled on Fox's armour over the blacks and Fox changed out of Quinlan's night clothes and into his Jedi tunic, then putting on the small amount of armour that Quinlan wore over the tunic. No matter how much Fox told Quinlan that more armour would be better, Quinlan insisted that too much armour would hinder his movements. Fox saw the point, but it still worried and, much more importantly, annoyed him.

When done, they faced each other, silently staring. Fox knew how exhausted he was, but was still surprised at how much it showed on his face; there were dark circles under his eyes, the hair near his temples was turning gray, and the armour looked like it was weighing the body down.

Quinlan smirked as he looked at his own body. "I look _much_ better than I thought I did. You do my body proud, Foxy."

Fox groaned. " _Why_ do I associate myself with you?"

Putting on Fox's helmet, Quinlan cheekily replied, "You love me. Let's go, dearest."

Quinlan reached the door to Fox's office first. He put his hand on it, taking a deep breath and adjusted himself to have Fox's tenser, commanding body language. Fox put on Quinlan's more relaxed posture.

They exited, heading towards the exit of the Guard's building. As they got closer, Fox could hear the sound of his brothers working. He could imagine the chaos they were all going through, paperwork, missions, prison escapes, guarding senators; being a member of the Coruscant Guard meant that your job was never over. Fox felt bad that he wouldn't be doing anything. He was their commander, their older brother, and he needed to be there for them. Thanks to this, he couldn't, and was essentially leaving them to the mercy of the senators and cruel citizens.

He hoped that none of them stopped to ask their commander anything, but they could never be so fortunate. "Commander Fox, sir!"

Fox turned to look at the one calling to him. He wasn't wearing a helmet; his face was young with no lines from stress, his eyes still had some semblance of innocence to them, his armour was completely white, and Fox didn't recognize him at all. A shine. "What is it, trooper?"

He was given a strange look in return and Fox held back from slapping himself. Right, he was Quinlan and Quinlan was him.

The-now-clone-trooper took a deep breath and did his best to impersonate Fox. "Don't mind Vos. He likes to think he is in charge of the guard just because he is around occasionally." He made his voice curt and abrupt, but with some level of accusatory politeness directed at his old body.

Fox chuckled the way Quinlan usually did when they threw jabs at each other like this. "Come on, _Commander_ , your men love having me around."

Quinlan rolled his eyes, now understanding the reason Fox loved wearing his helmet so much. He did not sound like that; Fox was just making him look bad. He turned his gaze back to the trooper, who was staring at them in a mixture of amusement and confusion. Seeing the attention on him, he held out a data pad to what he thought was his boss' body. "This came for you, sir. It's from the Chancellor."

In the corner of his eye, Quinlan thought he saw his old body tense. He narrowed his eyes, taking the data pad. He skimmed it, getting a brief summary of the information, thankfully nothing urgent, then handed it back. "Put this on my desk," he ordered, "Master Vos requires my assistance for an assignment first."

The trooper saluted. "Sir, yes sir!" He nodded politely in Fox's direction, and then went the way the two of them had come from.

The two of them quickly continued walking, soon reaching the exit. They stepped outside, breathing in the polluted air. Fox led the way to his speeder. When they arrived, Fox directed Quinlan to take the front.

Making sure no one was close enough to hear, Quinlan said, "Drivers' seat? Foxy, I'm honored."

Fox rolled his new eyes. "Just get on. We both have stuff to do after this."

Quinlan got the speeder. "Don't ruin the moment, Fox. I'm enjoying this too much."

Climbing onto the speeder behind him, Fox winced as he touched his old body and the armour that covered it. The gloves didn't dull everything. "I'm glad you are," he muttered.

* * *

As soon as they arrived at the Temple, Fox immediately got off the speeder once Quinlan had parked it in the main vehicle garage and took some deep breaths to calm down from the residual effects of touching the armour again.

Quinlan soon followed, calmly asking, "Are you okay now? I know it's hard."

Fox took one last deep breath. "Yeah, I'm fine. Let's go."

The two left the garage, Fox allowing Quinlan to pull ahead just slightly. He tried to not make it obvious that the body of the Commander of the Coruscant Guard, who wasn't here often enough to completely know his way around, was leading the path to the Achieves for the Jedi who had lived here most of his life. Due to the lack of stares being directed at them, Fox thought he was pretty successful in that regard.

Everything was going smoothly until Fox felt a presence coming closer to them. He narrowed his eyes, a Force Thing? While the presence didn't feel familiar to Fox, Quinlan's body seemed to instinctually know. A voice from behind them then called, "Vos? What are you doing here?"

Fox quickly spun around, staring at Obi-Wan Kenobi as he walked towards them. He quickly put on an easy-going grin, hoping to the Force that Quinlan acted the same around Obi-Wan as he did everyone else.

Obi-Wan nodded towards Fox's original body; Quinlan made sure to salute in response. "Sir."

"Why wouldn't I be here, Kenobi? I live here, too," Fox said, even as it hurt him inside to address a general this way.

Obi-Wan raised an eyebrow. "Rarely."

Fox tried to imitate Quinlan's casual shrug. "Whatever, man. Why are _you_ here? Giving the Separatists a breather?"

"I'm merely waiting to hear where my men and I will be sent next," Obi-Wan replied, gazing between the two with narrowed eyes.

Quinlan noticed the weird look his friend was giving them. He must've noticed the Force signature change between them. Also noticing the look, Fox quickly tried to think of a way to send the Jedi away. He thought back to all of his previous conversations with Cody and then sent a silent apology to the general. He would've apologized to Cody, but Fox was sure he'd done something in the past to deserve this; he'd think of it after this was solved.

"So Kenobi," Fox said, forcing a teasing grin and tone, "how're things going with the good-lookin' Commander Cody? Drop any lightsabers recently?" He pushed down the panic at talking to a _Jedi General_ this way and talking about Cody like that. Besides, knowing Quinlan, he's probably said worse.

Obi-Wan stiffened at the question, turning to stare at him with hard eyes. "I have absolutely no idea what you are talking about, Vos. I'll be taking my leave now." He turned to Fox's body, nodding again. "I hope he doesn't cause you any trouble, Commander Fox."

Quinlan, in the midst of Fox's dilemma, was struggling to hold in his laughter. At Obi-Wan's words, he straightened up and saluted again. "He is fine, General Kenobi. No trouble at all."

Instead of giving him another hard look, Obi-Wan smirked lightly at his friends' body and responded, "Glad he is for _someone_. You must have quite a lot of skill if you're able to tame Vos."

Fox froze, trying to hide his embarrassment and Quinlan closed his eyes, thanking the Force for the helmet. Maybe he should get one of his own. Damn Obi-Wan; Quinlan would have to stop telling him things.

Obi-Wan smiled politely at the two of them, walking away and saying, "Good day to you both."

Fox watched as he walked away, trying to regain his composure. As soon as he was out of sight, Quinlan muttered, "This way, we're almost there."

He nodded, grateful to be reminded of why he was here. He did _not_ need to be reminded of his relationship with Quinlan Vos. Besides, Quinlan was just as annoying as he ever was.

* * *

Quinlan placed the holobook back, sighing in annoyance. They weren't getting anywhere with this. He went to the next one over and began reading it over. Fox leaned over to read as well, trying to make it appear like Quinlan, the one who had reason to be here, wasn't being lazy and forcing the Clone Commander to do his work.

He noticed someone walk by, stopping briefly to look over at them. Fox gave the older Jedi a Quinlan-esque grin. She narrowed her eyes at him, and then walked away.

Fox snorted quietly. "Looks like you got on someone's bad side."

"Huh?" Quinlan looked up at him.

"Silver hair in a bun, older woman?" Fox described.

Quinlan smirked. "Madame Jocasta. I've been on her bad side since I was a Padawan."

"What did you do?" Fox asked, completely deadpan.

Putting the holobook back, Quinlan replied, "That's a story for another day, Foxy."

"Of course it is. Nothing in the holobook?" he asked.

"Nope," Quinlan said, sighing again and resisting the urge to run his hand through his hair; he didn't have it anymore and was still wearing Fox's helmet. "I don't think we'll find anything here."

Fox nodded, trying to remain calm. "Until we can find some answers, we're going to have to train better to… be each other."

Quinlan groaned. "I can't wait to forge your signature all day."

"That's not all you'd be doing and you know that," Fox retorted, glaring. "You'll have to teach me a basic understanding of how to use the Force and a lightsaber. Unfortunately for us, you'll probably have a mission soon."

Quinlan nodded. "Okay, let's get back to your office. We can do this."

Fox smiled bitterly. "We have to do this."

* * *

Allowing a small smile at his success, Fox gently lowered the datapad back onto his desk. Finally, after all the practice last night, he could lift and lower and datapad with the Force.

"That's not bad," Quinlan said from the desk, as he practiced signing Fox's signature on spare flimsy, "especially for someone who's never used the Force before."

"The trainers on Kamino did always say I was a quick learner," Fox responded, lifting the datapad again and raising it higher this time.

Quinlan nodded, standing up. "Put it down; I want to test something."

Fox concentrated, continuing the reach out in the Force to lower the datapad. He placed it back on the desk. "Now what?"

"Close your eyes," Quinlan ordered, grabbing the datapad from its resting spot. "I want to see how good your instincts are, with the Force and without."

Obeying, Fox closed his eyes. Just like on Kamino, just like on Kamino. "In 30 seconds, I want you to tell me what side of you I'm on." Quinlan stepped to his right as quietly as he could manage.

After 30 seconds, Fox stated, "You're on my left."

"Correct." Quinlan nodded. "You heard me?"

"Yes, I did," Fox responded. "The way we were made and the training makes our senses better than the average citizen."

"That makes this easier then," Quinlan said, smirking a little. "Hopefully, my next mission will be a more simple one and your training should already help with it. Just in case though."

"What next?"

Stepping back in front of Fox, Quinlan held the datapad out to his left side. "Use the Force to tell me which side of you I'm holding the datapad."

Fox breathed in deeply, then released it, trying to rid his body of tension. He cleared his mind like Quinlan had the night before and felt an energy, the Force, surround him. Fox had didn't know for certain why the Force came to him so naturally, but he had some guesses. It was possible that Quinlan's body was acting on instinct when it came to the Force and, once Fox's mind had the basics down, the body was taking care of the rest. Fox's other theory relied on what Quinlan had once told him about the Force working in mysterious ways and not everything was known; the Force had done this to them for some reason or another and was helping him in order to have its plan work. Either way, Fox was grateful; it made his job of impersonating Quinlan much easier. If only the psychometry would calm down, that would great, in Fox's opinion.

"It's on my right," Fox said, squeezing his eyes shut.

Quinlan nodded, smiling lightly. "Good job, you can open your eyes now. You brought the stun blaster?"

Opening his eyes, Fox went over to his desk and pulled it out, handing it to the other man. "Practice dodging stun shots first, then actual blaster fire?"

"Yeah. Let's head to the training room you have set up for your men," Quinlan said, heading to the door.

"My men will find it weird that _I'm_ helping a _Jedi_ train, Vox," Fox drily pointed out.

"Will they ask about it?" Quinlan asked, hand on the door knob.

"No, not the ones that we'll find in the training room. They're not close enough to either of us, and they've been trained too well to question people of higher rank. But word gets around quickly here; Thorn, Stone, and even Thire would not hesitate to question me… _you_ about it later."

Quinlan hesitated, but still pulled the door open. "It's a risk we'll have to take. I'll deal with it later if we're not back to normal by then."

Fox rolled his eyes and shook his head. "Whatever, but if you ruin this, I will not hold back."

He got a snort in response. "Duly noted, Foxy."

They quickly got into the attitudes of the body they currently inhabited and headed towards the training room. Thankfully, there were no interruptions this time. Commander Fox of the Coruscant Guard may have been an odd sight in the Jedi Temple, but Jedi Quinlan Vos was a regular sight within the Guard. They arrived and, thankfully, it wasn't packed.

Once the other vode in the room had noticed them, they quickly stopped what they were doing, standing at-attention and saluting. Quinlan glanced over at them, nodding briefly in acknowledgment. "At ease."

Fox pulled Quinlan's lightsaber off of his belt, holding it the way he had seen Quinlan do so many times before. He made sure he had a firm grip on the weapon and a solid stance.

Noticing the surprised look being sent his way, Fox quickly and quietly explained, "I've seen you do this so many times, it's kind of second nature."

He activated the lightsaber. Quinlan allowed himself a small smile at the look of slight amazement on the face across from him; he would never forget the first time he used his first lightsaber.

Quinlan pointed the stun blaster at the other man. Fox took a breath to calm his nerves, and then nodded. They worked on this for a few hours, Fox quickly getting the hang of dodging the stun shots or hitting them back with Quinlan's lightsaber. It was difficult at first, Fox had trouble getting used to being physically active in Quinlan's body, but he had always adapted quickly. Fox eventually allowed the stun shots to be replaced with real shots. He found it wasn't much harder; if anything, it motivated him to stay even more concentrated in order to not get shot. It was rather similar to training on Kamino in that regard.

They ignored the quiet whispers of confusion about them from the others in the room. When Quinlan had decided Fox was sufficient with the basics, they made their way back to Fox's office and quarters, not paying any mind to the stares being sent their way.

Once they arrived, Fox asked, "Will the basics be enough, though? What if you, _I_ , get sent on a mission against another Force user?"

"I doubt that'll be my next mission," Quinlan replied, "but even if you do, you are already pretty capable against me and the Force seems to be with you right now. You should be fine."

Fox sighed. "Fine, I'll trust you on this." He stretched, wincing. "I'm going to sleep, your body is exhausted."

"Okay, sleep well Foxy," Quinlan said. Actually, now that exhausted bodies were being mentioned, Fox's body felt extremely worn out. He thought he felt a headache, his eyes were sore, and he felt like this body was weighing him down. Was Fox really that bad at taking care of himself? Quinlan would interrogate him later or maybe just pass on some information to a Guard medic. "I'll join you soon, I'm just gonna review some of your datapads and old work."

"Knock yourself out." Fox paused thoughtfully, and then went over to his desk to pull out a small stack of flimsi. "The Chancellor's signature is on here. You should practice forging it."

Quinlan gave him an incredulous look, taking the stack. He eyed Fox's forgery of the Chancellor's signature. "He makes you do this? That can't be legal. Why didn't you tell me?"

Fox felt the urge to fidget at the look he was being given, but quickly shoved the urge down at the reminder that it was his own body giving him the glare. "I didn't think it was important. Besides, the Chancellor is my boss and I follow his orders. Good night, Vos."

He went into his quarters before Quinlan could get in a word. Quinlan looked at the flimsy in his hands, sighing. He got out a scrap piece of flimsy, beginning to practice the Chancellor's signature.

* * *

Quinlan was pulled out of blissful sleep to the loud, obnoxious ring of his communicator. In his sleepy haze, he forgot about him being inside Fox's body and tried to turn on the communicator, only to realize it wasn't on his wrist.

He felt Fox get out of the tiny bed and exit his quarters, returning to his small office. The ringing stopped before he heard his voice talking with Master Windu. He didn't make out many words, but he had a sinking feeling. He was being called on a mission, _Fox_ was being sent on a mission meant for _him_.

The call ended quickly like they always do, and his body returned to the cramped quarters. "Well?" Quinlan asked, his voice still bit groggy from sleep.

"I'm going on a mission," Fox replied curtly, beginning to get dressed. "Some important prisoner has escaped our custody and they need you to retrieve him."

"With my psychometry," Quinlan breathed out, his worry building.

Fox heard the tone and turned to face him. "Wipe that look _off_ my face, Vos. I _never_ look like that. I will be fine, you said so yourself. He is not Force sensitive, so I apply the basics you taught me with what training I already have. As for the psychometry, I'll try to track him without it. If I can't I'll just have to deal with it like I always do. I've done missions like these before and I'll be back before you know it."

Worry not completely gone, but calmed slightly, Quinlan nodded. "Just… Please be careful."

Fox snorted, finishing getting dressed. "As if I'm anything less."

Quinlan gave him The Look. "You are just as bad, if not _worse_ , than me and you know it."

"Don't know what you're talking about," Fox replied shortly. He looked Quinlan in the eyes. "Be careful, too. It might not be what you're used to, but being in the Coruscant Guard is its own hell."

Quinlan gave him a cherry smile. "Don't worry about me, darling, I can survive a few days without your constant presence."

They stared at each other for a long moment. Quinlan was struck with the urge to kiss the other man, and he _really_ wanted to, but Fox was in _his_ body. It would feel really weird. It was already strange enough sleeping in Fox's body and acting like him.

"I should go," Fox interrupted the moment. "Good bye, Vos."

"Bye Foxy," Quinlan replied as Fox exited the quarters for the final time that night. He laid back down and tried to get some sleep, but ultimately gave up. He already missed Fox too much.

* * *

One week as the Commander of the Coruscant Guard and Quinlan Vos wasn't sure whether he wanted to throw himself off the roof of the Senate building or throw off everyone causing him this stress.

Seriously, how did Fox put up with it all? The derogatory comments about clones, the incompetent Senate Guard, the attempted prison breaks, young troopers being found dead in the lower levels, keeping up an, "I'm okay" façade for Fox's batchmates in their group chat, the Chancellor seeming incapable of doing his own kriffing paperwork; this and so much had nearly caused Quinlan to scream several times, and he came close to punching a few people.

Was it really this bad? Sure, he had known _some_ of what went on with the Coruscant Guard, but _this_? _All_ of this? Why didn't Fox tell him?

Quinlan leaned back in the chair at Fox's desk, tiredly rubbing his sore eyes before taking a sip of his caf. It was too early for this; the sun hadn't even risen yet and here Quinlan was, having to stay up for hours on end devouring caf in order to stay caught up. The best part was that the Chancellor had contacted him last night, wanting to see Fox early this morning. For what reason, Quinlan was at a loss.

The door to Fox's office being opened jolted him out of his thoughts. His heart sank at the sight of Thorn. Quinlan had being doing his absolute best to avoid the man, Stone, and Thire all week, but it seems he had finally been cornered.

Thorn had an eyebrow raised in his direction. "Really Fox? I'm pretty sure you're doing the exact opposite of what the medics told you."

"I have work, Thorn. Go away," Quinlan demanded, not even having to pretend to act like Fox. The past week had really gotten to him.

Thorn, as predicted, paid him no mind and sat across from him. "Are you okay?"

Quinlan snorted. "I'm always okay. Now, unless this is work related, go away."

Eyes narrowed, Thorn refused to back down. "I'm being serious, Fox'ika. You have been on edge all week, looking like you were gonna punch someone. Not that you don't want to, because I know you feel like that, but you're usually better at hiding it. So, allow me to ask a different question. What's wrong?"

Looking into Thorn's determined yet concerned gaze, Quinlan briefly contemplated telling Thorn the truth, before deciding not to. Not without Fox's consent.

Quinlan sighed. "I don't know; it's just been really getting to me this week."

The concern in Thorn's gaze grew. "Maybe you should go to the medbay, vod'ika. You know they would give you a medical reason to take a break and Stone, Thire, and I could split up your duties."

"No," Quinlan abruptly replied, not even considering the option. Once upon a time, he had wondered why Fox never gave some of his workload to the other three in order to make his job easier. Now he knew why; better to shoulder this himself than to force it onto his brothers. Quinlan wondered if acting like Fox was having some kind of effect on him in thinking of his men as brothers.

Thorn groaned at Quinlan's response. "Why can't you just accept help for once, Fox? You don't have to do everything alone!"

Quinlan was about to respond, but then an alarm sounded throughout the office. This time, Quinlan groaned and Thorn looked confused. "What was that?"

Turning off the alarm, Quinlan replied. "An alarm I set to remind me to go meet with the Chancellor. If you'll excuse me." He noticed the look on Thorn's face. "What?"

Thorn shook his head, standing. "Nothing. Just… see you whenever you get back."

"Okay," Quinlan trailed off in confusion as Thorn left the undersized office. He stood up, putting on his helmet and feeling the unease grow in him. Quinlan couldn't fathom why. He didn't have much contact with the Chancellor, so it's not like he had much of a problem with the old man.

Quinlan shook off the unease as he exited the office. Everything would be fine.

* * *

Fox smirked in satisfaction as he watched his brothers take the prisoner away, this time to be placed in prison more securely this time.

A part of Fox was relieved that this had been relatively easy, but another part of him was disappointed that he hadn't needed to use the Force a bit more. The only time he had truly _needed_ to use the Force was when he had reached a dead-end in tracking the target and had resigned himself to using psychometry. It had been…not as painful as the encounter with his armour, but still painful. Of course, if he had briefly used the Force to help himself run faster, being able to imagine that he was one with the wind, well…no one could prove a thing.

When was the last time he had felt _this_ good about completing a mission? Certainly too long for it to be clear to Fox anymore.

Once the others were out of sight, Fox quickly started making his way back to the Guard headquarters, determined to check on Quinlan. He had attempted to contact him three times in the last week, with no response every time.

He remembered Thorn telling him about the times Fox would go on missions alone for a time, and whenever one of the other three commanders tried to contact him, he would never respond. Fox would always say that he was too busy, but truthfully? He never remembered going on those missions, just going to meet with the Chancellor and then suddenly being back in his office, feeling like he was missing something. He tried his best to move on, what could he do about it? It was hard when this had happened a couple of times to Thorn, Stone, Thire, and a few squads at a time, but who would believe or even listen to him? The only connection Fox could find between all the incidents was the Chancellor, which meant Fox had no chance of being believed. Instead, he just gave them as much time off as he could spare, not a lot unfortunately, and hoped that they would be able to get better. The only good this about this situation was that Fox could usually have this happen to him the most.

He had, foolishly, believed that this wouldn't happen while he and Quinlan were switched like this. He sped up as the building appeared in his line of sight, hoping that Quinlan was just busy. Fox, after all, knew just how busy the job was.

Entering the Guard headquarters, Fox looked around, hoping to see his body around. Not seeing it, he made his way towards his office, keeping an eye out. He soon recognized Thire, and approached him, deciding to see if he would know something.

"Well, if it isn't my favourite commander!" Fox drawled, forcing a smirk onto his face and internally cringing.

Thire faced him, letting out a playful scoff. "Please, everyone knows Fox is your favourite."

Internally, Fox froze. He was Quinlan's favourite? Obviously it was joked about and they slept together on occasion, but it meant enough to him that Fox was his _favourite_? Hadn't they silently agreed to not let emotions get involved in their relationship? They slept together sometimes, Quinlan annoyed him, Fox's dry humour seemed to amuse Quinlan more than anything else, and they occasionally helped each other on missions. That was it; emotions would only get them both hurt in the end.

Externally, Fox let the smirk turn into a soft grin and raised his hands in a mock attempt to placate him. "Fine, you got me. Second favourite."

Even though Fox couldn't see Thire's face, he could envision the raised eyebrow and practically felt the judgment rolling off him in waves. Good; Fox had trained him well. "Try again."

Fox turned the soft grin into a sheepish smile. "Third?"

Thire snorted. " _That_ I believe. Now, why are you here? I've got things to do."

"Well, you see, during my last mission, I could've used my favourite commander's help, but the three times I tried comming him, he never answered." Fox hoped to Force this wasn't what he thought it was. The entire point of him taking as many of these _missions_ as he could was so no one else would have to go through it.

The other man tensed and Fox's heart immediately sank. "He's been on a mission for the Chancellor for the past week. He gets really busy on those missions."

He was repeating what Fox always told them about being too busy; at least it confirmed what was going on. He adopted a regretful tone, and said what Quinlan usually brought up to him when Fox's work was brought up, "That's a shame. That man really needs to give him a break."

"You don't say," Thire sarcastically mumbled, then hesitated. "You can go wait in Fox's office, if you'd like. I don't know when he'll be back, but I don't think he'd mind."

Fox smiled at him genuinely, as himself and Quinlan. Quinlan would be grateful that they trusted him in Fox's office alone and Fox was glad that there would be less suspicion about Quinlan's body in his office if someone not in the Guard came around. "Thank you, Commander Thire. See you around?"

Thire snorted. "Of course I will. As Fox says all time, you're like an infectious mold around here."

Fox suppressed a wince. He didn't talk about Quinlan that much, did he? "Oh please, we all know he loves me too."

Thire shook his head, walking away. Fox continued making his way to his office and, upon opening the door, couldn't hide his wince.

Was his desk always this bad? It was almost completely covered in datapads, with some having fallen onto the floor. There was a small open space just in front of his chair, that being where the datapad currently being used would sit. Close to it was a cup of caf that, upon further inspection, was nearly ice cold. The first week must have been hard on Quinlan.

Not thinking much of it, Fox took a seat in the chair, grabbing a datapad. He knew how to do the work, and since he was here while Quinlan wasn't, he may as well help where he can. Besides, it was _technically_ Fox's work.

* * *

Quinlan grabbed the wall to stop himself from falling to the floor when he stumbled. He took a few deep breaths, then continued walking.

He was in the Guard headquarters, he recognized that much, but why was he here? Hadn't he just been on his way to see the Chancellor? Yes, so why was he walking away? Why did he have a splitting headache? Why did he feel like he had forgotten something important?

Finally spotting Fox's office, he gave a sigh of relief. He would be able to rest for a little bit. He hadn't been gone for that long, so the workload couldn't have gotten _that_ much bigger. Besides, Quinlan didn't even know if he _could_ work in this state.

He reached the door, opening it quickly as his aching body would allow. To Quinlan's shock, his body sat in the chair behind the desk, working away on datapads. "Foxy?" he managed, and why did Fox's voice sound so weak? He never sounded weak.

Having heard the door open, Fox had quickly looked up to see his body stumble into the office. His eyes widened, rushing up to support Quinlan. He closed the door before tugging Quinlan out of his office and into his quarters. "Come on, you need to sleep it off."

"Sleep what off?" Quinlan mumbled, leaning into Fox. He ignored the strange feeling of drawing comfort from his own body.

"The mission. You must've gone so long without sleep." Fox started taking off the armour.

Quinlan suddenly blinked in confusion. "But I've only been gone for a few hours at most."

Now in Fox's blacks, Quinlan stood across from his body, staring at it in confusion. Fox pushed him onto the bed. "You've been gone for a week, Quinlan. Lay down and I'll show you."

Too tired to argue, Quinlan fell back and let his head hit the pillow. Fox quickly went back into the office to grab and datapad. When he came back, he showed Quinlan the date, and his heart sank when he saw that Fox was correct: he had been gone for a week.

"H-how…" Quinlan trailed off, trying to shove away the rising panic. He felt a hand on his shoulder and looked at Fox in his body.

"Get some rest. I promise I'll explain when you wake up."

Quinlan nodded despite his confusion rising. He closed his eyes and, before he knew, was dead to the world.

* * *

"Okay, I've gotten some rest and I feel better now. _Please_ explain what you were talking about."

Fox sighed, putting the datapad down and rubbing his eyes tiredly. He chugged down the rest of his caf. He could do this; he had spent the entire time Quinlan was sleeping convincing himself he could do it.

"Sit down," Fox said, resigned to getting this over with. He hated talking about this.

Quinlan sat across from him, staring at him intently.

Fox let out a breath, trying to relax. "When I arrived on Coruscant, everything started simply enough: I protected the senators and Chancellor because everyone knows the Senate Guard is useless, I patrolled, I had prison duty, I did paperwork. Maybe it wasn't completely what I was trained for, but I adapted and made sure my men did." He sighed. "Then, a few months into the war, the Chancellor started calling me up to his office, alone. I didn't think it was weird at first; I protect him and his Republic. The weird thing was that whenever I met with him alone in his office, I never remembered what happened."

Quinlan stared at him. "What do you mean you never remembered?"

Gaze dropping to his desk, Fox continued, "Meaning, I would leave to go to his office, but I never remember meeting him or what he has me do. I just remember when I am back in my office. It started off me only not remembering a couple of hours, then a few days, then a week. The longest I've gone without memory is two weeks."

"Are you the only one?" Quinlan asked with a low voice.

Fox shook his head. "No; Thorn, Stone, Thire, and a few squads at a time have experienced this, too."

Quinlan sighed, leaning back in the chair. When he finally spoke, his voice had a hint of hurt in it. "Why didn't you tell me? I thought you trusted me. I could've done—"

"You could've done what, Quinlan?" Fox snapped, struggling to keep his voice down. "The only connection I've found between these incidents is the Chancellor and would you _really_ have believed me over him?"

"Yes!" Quinlan exclaimed, completely serious. "I don't know him at all, and considering he's a politician, there is definitely something untrustworthy about him. You, on the other hand? I know you, Fox. I know you wouldn't lie about this, putting you and your brothers in danger."

Fox stared at him, utterly dumbfounded. "What."

Quinlan grabbed the hand of his body and stared into Fox's eyes. Even though they were Quinlan's eyes and his eye colour, they were clearly Fox's eyes right now; the emotion in them making it unmistakable. "I would've believed you, Fox. I _do_ believe you. There is definitely something not right about this."

Fox stared heavily at their interlocked fingers. He willed himself to not pull away because, as overwhelming as it was, he _really_ liked it. "It's not like we can do anything, though. There's no proof."

"So we'll find something, _anything_ ," Quinlan stated confidently. "If only we were in our regular bodies, I could use psychometry to find something about him." Fox froze and Quinlan looked at him in worry. "Are you okay?"

"When we first switched," Fox breathed out, "and I went to put on my armour, I accidently used psychometry on it."

Immediately following his line of thinking, Quinlan asked, "What did you get?"

Fox shivered at the memory, feeling a chill creep up the back of his neck. "I felt fear; so much fear, Quinlan. It was so intense that it felt like my own." Fox paused. "Looking back on it, though, it probably _was_ my fear. I could hear faint whispers of someone ordering me to do something in a creepy voice. There was a figure standing in front of me, with yellow eyes and he reminded me of someone. I was pulled out before I could remember though."

Quinlan had stiffened at the mention of yellow eyes. "I think the Sith Lord the Jedi have been looking for may be on Coruscant, using you and your brothers. Whether it's Palpatine or someone close to him, I don't know. I think he knows, though."

"But why don't we remember anything? Has he or she been using the Force on our memories?" Fox asked, the idea making him feel sick.

Immediately shaking his head, Quinlan replied, "No; with how close I am to you, along with the amount of time I spend around the Guard, I would have felt that." Quinlan raised a hand, placing it on the head of the body he was currently inhabiting. "It's probably something in your guys' heads. We just need to find out what."

Fox sighed in relief. Coming up with plans is what he was good at. "We could have some brain scans done. From what I know of level 5 atomic brain scans, they are pretty good at detecting something in your head."

"That would work," Quinlan agreed, nodding. "It just means—"

"No," Fox cut him off, seeing the look in his eyes, "I am not involving any of my vode in this."

Quinlan looked at him sadly. "Fox, you know we don't have a choice. Neither of us are trained medics, the likelihood of a nat-born officer medic helping is slim, who knows if the medical droids can be trusted, and taking you to the Halls of Healing in the Jedi Temple would be too suspicious."

Fox groaned angrily, running a hand through Quinlan's hair in an attempt to calm himself. "I know, Quinlan! But what if this turns out to be something so much bigger? I don't want my brothers getting involved in that!"

"Fox," Quinlan said to him, ever so gentle, "you know your brothers would want to be involved in this to help you. They would want to deal with this together. Besides, if something ends up being found in your head, don't you think they'd want to know?"

Fox stared into Quinlan's eyes. They may have been on Fox's body with is eye colour, but there was no doubt they were Quinlan's right now. He could see the love and concern shining in them, mixed with determination. He sighed in defeat. "Fine, we tell _one_ of my medics and that's it. Depending on what's found, we go from there."

Quinlan nodded, knowing that was the best he'd get. "Okay, do you want to go now and get this over with? It looks like you got me pretty caught up with the datapads."

"Yeah, let's go," Fox replied, hoping to the Force he wouldn't regret this.

* * *

"He'll be fine sir, I promise," Coral, the Coruscant Guard's Chief Medical Officer, assured Fox in Quinlan's body. "If there is something in his head affecting his memory, the level 5 atomic brain scan should find it."

They had only told Coral about the memory loss Fox experiences; they left out the body swap and their suspicions about the Chancellor. There was no need to worry Coral anymore than he already was.

Fox nodded, smiling at Coral in the easy-going manner Quinlan had adopted. "I know; you're one of the best medics I've come across."

Coral snorted. "Flattery will get you everywhere, sir. Keep it up and you may just become my favourite nat-born."

Fox was continually amazed at how relaxed his men were around Quinlan. He honestly had no idea how the man did, to Fox included.

Coral glanced at the bed in the private room, noticing Fox's body had fallen into unconsciousness. "Alright, this shouldn't take too long. If I find anything though, Commander Fox has asked that I remove it if possible."

Fox nodded, sitting down. "Take your time, Coral. We wouldn't want the good commander to become permanently damaged."

Coral smirked at him, before entering the private room, closing and locking the door behind him.

Fox waited for what felt like hours, trying and barely succeeding in resisting the urge to pace. What if something _was_ found in his head? He wasn't the only one to experience these memory losses, so would that mean every single one of his brothers had the same thing in their heads? To his knowledge, those who joined the Coruscant Guard weren't hand-picked as babies, so it would be all of them. But what if something wasn't found? What if those in the Coruscant Guard were just starting to lose it? Fox didn't know which he wanted more.

Finally, Coral re-opened the door and walked over to him. His steps were stiff and the look on his face; grim and slightly panicked. Fox had a feeling he knew what had happened.

* * *

When Quinlan opened his eyes, he immediately winced at the stiffness in his neck. He rolled it to try and sooth it, but stopped in confusion. Hadn't he passed out on a pillow?

He gave a start when his eyes were drawn to the bed with Fox's body on it. He was looking at Fox's body, not seeing through his eyes. Quinlan looked at his hands, ran them through his hair, felt his face. He was back in his own body. He let a smile form on his face. Soon, his eyes were drawn to the object on the table beside him. Something red. He stared at in confusion before his mind wandered away

He was slightly confused as to why they switched back now. He reached into the Force, relieved to finally feel it again, and felt a feeling of contentment. Maybe the Force had wanted this to happen, for Fox to tell him about losing time, for them to go on the right path of what was going on. Maybe this would lead them to the Sith Lord and end the war.

He heard a groan come from the bed and his eyes darted over to Fox.

Slowly, Fox opened his eyes. He looked around blearily, before his gaze rested on Quinlan. He just stared for a moment, before his eyes widened in shock.

"Hey, Foxy," Quinlan gently mumbled to him, bringing up a hand to rest it in Fox's hair. "We're back."

Fox nodded, comprehension beginning to return. "I see that."

They stared into each other's eyes for a moment longer, before Quinlan removed his hand from Fox's hair and gestured at the table. "What's that?"

Directing his gaze to the direction Quinlan's hand was pointing, Fox's eyes immediately narrowed and Quinlan was alerted to a very strong feeling of anger through the Force. "That was in my head," Fox replied, his voice tight. "Coral found it with the level 5 atomic brain scan. He… He thought it was just a tumour at first, but did as we asked and removed it. That's when he discovered it was a chip."

"Kriff," Quinlan breathed.

"I told him that it _must_ stay confidential for the moment, that you and I would look into it ourselves. To reassure him, I said that if we needed him, we'd go to him," Fox finished.

Quinlan nodded. "Okay, that's a start. At least we know now that something bigger is definitely going on. We just have to learn what this chip is doing in your head and what it does. Once we learn something and have proof, we'll go to the Jedi Council with our findings."

"I'll do what I have to in order to get answers," Fox said. "Besides, it's not like I'll survive this, anyway."

Quinlan's gaze sharpened. "What do you mean?"

Fox scoffed. "What if someone realizes that I don't have that in my head anymore, Quinlan? It's there for a reason and I don't think whoever put it there will be happy to learn I got it out. Further, I'm a clone and you're not. Your life and safety comes first."

"Fox," Quinlan said slowly, "I want you to listen to me and listen well, okay? Your life doesn't mean less to me than mine does. I will do my absolute best to make sure we get out of this together and save as many people as possible, just as I know you will. I can't promise everyone will be saved, but we will make a difference."

Fox resisted the urge to roll his eyes at the look on Quinlan's face. It was so… serious, determined, yet full of truth and love. He wondered what his face looked like at the moment.

Quinlan reached out to place a hand on Fox's, leaning closer to him. When Fox didn't move away, moved _closer_ , he gently placed his lips upon the other mans' and stayed there for a few long moments. Quinlan brought up his free hand, placing it on Fox's neck.

When Quinlan pulled away from the kiss, he placed his forehead against Fox's. "We're in this together, okay? We got into this together, and we'll leave together."

Fox hesitantly nodded, letting a slight smile onto his face. "Together." He closed his eyes, placing his lips on Quinlan's, finally feeling at peace for the first time in years.

They would get through this, together.

**Author's Note:**

> FanFiction.net: Blue-Haired-Wonder
> 
> Tumblr: blue-haired-grace
> 
> Wattpad: Anahita-Acada


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